Cafe Blog Reviews

We have talked about the value of turning customers into evangelists when using social media . I wanted to give you a few pointers on how to accomplish the task. 10 Steps to Encouraging Your Customers to Become Evangelists 1. First. Make sure you prepare yourself for the focused effort of turning happy customers to loyal promoters and evangelists. Prepare your mind. Maybe yoga? 2. You have an email list right? Use your email list to make sure you are connected to your customers on the social sites you use frequently. Importing and Exporting Contacts Using: Facebook , LinkedIN , Twitter , and Plaxo . 3. After you have imported your contacts into the social media sites of your choosing… make sure you add and contact them through the sites. 4. Once you have connected to most of your customers start communicating on a daily basis with them. We are not talking about sending sales information or product information but asking about their day… etc. 5. Create a list of your high level and value customers. It helps to have a list in place to set some goals toward customer evangelists. Start out with 5 people or companies. 6. Set up Twitter Searches for your valued client’s industries or services. For example, if you have an accountant as a valued client make sure you setup a Twitter search feed for accountant or tax advice. When someone ask for advice make sure you reccomend your client. Disclaimer: You do not have to always monitor the Twitter search but it is good to have around. I know we all have about 5 mins of free time a day. 7. If the client has an event or seminar coming up in the area make sure you share that link with the multitudes of your followers online. Share it as an RT in Twitter Share it on your Facebook Wall Share it as a status update on LinkedIN 8. Recommend your client on LinkedIN . Why recommend on LinkedIN? It is simple. If you want recommended by a client on LinkedIN it is always better to recommend first. Do it and see the benefits. 9. Share an exciting story about your client’s business to your contacts. It is important to share the quality information even if it does not relate you your business. 10. Ask for the recommendation. It never hurts to ask. Encourage your best clients and friends to tell YOUR story across the masses. Remember it is important to give before you receive. If you help your clients become thought leadership in their industries or grow their business using the Internet they WILL become your evangelists.

Originally posted here:
10 Steps to Encouraging Your Customers to Become Evangelists

This weeks guest blog post is by  Becky Robinson , a social media consultant and blogger for Mountain State University .   (Do you want more than that?) If so: She is also the mother of three daughters and currently lives in Chicago, IL. This week marks the one year anniversary of my entry into the social media world. I am going to say something bold (and risk sounding corny, too): SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGED MY LIFE. I am still the same person at my core: my values, my beliefs, and my purpose, but becoming involved in social media has changed my habits, my activities, and my aspirations. I have a new career path and every day brings new relationships and opportunities. My social media involvement started with Facebook, last New Year’s Day. Less than a month into my Facebook experiment, I reconnected with lots of old friends. Then one day, a high school classmate I hadn’t talked to or seen in more than twenty years posted a status update looking for freelance writers. I have always wanted to write. At age 8, my friends and I created newspapers and went door to door trying to sell them. As a preteen, I filled a series of flannel covered journals with lines of poetry and stories. I majored in creative writing in college but after graduation I got married, went to grad school, and got a job (not writing). After several years of 9 to 5, and 12 weeks of maternity leave, I wanted nothing more than to stay home with my daughter, so that’s what I did. Three daughters and 8 years later, I had a store of creative energy waiting to be unleashed. Being involved in social media has given me an outlet for creativity and means for connecting in relationships with people all over the world. On a personal level, blogging, Facebook, and Twitter are just plain fun. Professionally, though, social media has provides an amazing platform for building not only my personal brand, but also the brand of the university that I represent. My old friend John, who got me started with freelancing, works for the marketing department at Mountain State University. When I became a part of the team there, we started to explore the impact we could make with social media. We started with a  blog . To the blog, we added a  Twitter presence . Then we started to experiment with expanding the university’s Facebook presence. The whole point of social media for Mountain State – for anyone – is relationships. We are finding new approaches to connect with current students, new ways to make our brand known to potential students. We are finding new methods to delight and engage our students, and new avenues to involve them in community with each other. And you know the best part? It’s really just plain fun. Related articles by Zemanta Try a Slow Media Diet for 2010 (lifehacker.com) Got Caught With My Pants Down and My Ink Dry? What’s My Next Move? (agentgenius.com) Avatar Makes a Billion Dollars (mashable.com) Social Media: More Than Meets the Eye? (myventurepad.com)

Go here to see the original:
Social Media Changed My Life!

Last night, I was talking to Jeremy Derringer, owner and absolute SEO genius over at Slingshot SEO … we were discussing the idea of taking the “leap” and taking the chance when running your own business. Going @$#@ to the wall and dominating! Shouldn’t that be the way of thinking for every business owner? When did rules ever apply to the art of running a business? Let me preface this post by saying that I do not mean moral, ethical, or legal rules. There are rules that each person has set aside for themselves whether spiritual or from the laws of the land. I am talking about business rules. They are the rules predestined and applied by business owners, scholars, and business minds throughout the centuries. Rules on innovation and marketing that if applied correctly will help you run a business but… Times are trying/changing and individuals/companies are scraping to stay ahead of the competition and make a little bit of cash on the side. I am reading the book First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman and it had me thinking about the rules we apply to business marketing and thought-leadership. I am sure you are thinking of typical rules that you apply on a daily basis in your business. What are they? Where did they come from? Why don’t you just break them? My favorite example is from the minds that brought us Quicken and Quickbooks : Intuit. In the early days the founders were struggling to produce demand for their product. Distributors would not pick them up because, frankly, they were the 47th or so product on the market. They decided to take every cent of their budget in the bank and invest it in marketing directly to the consumer and not the distributor. We are not talking about 10% of their budget or a small portion of the revenue… they bet everything on this ONE idea. The rest is history. They broke the rules and changed the mold of how sass products were sold and distributed. What is keeping you from breaking the rules? What is keeping you from adopting a social media strategy that could revolutionize the way you communicate? What is keeping you from starting a blog or starting a Facebook group? Is it fear? Is it understanding? Is it resources? To this I say, break all the rules. Live out your business and revolutionize the way you reach your customers. Empower your company to defeat fear and rise above the rest. If you would rather lay in the trenches… don’t waste my time.

View post:
Break All the Rules or Don’t Waste My Time!

What is the one thing that comes up time and time again in our educational sessions at Brandswag? B2B use of social media . I have heard plenty of reasons why social media could not… should not.. be used to sell the B2B world. What do many B2B companies do right now for marketing? Direct Mail? Newspaper Advertising? E-Newsletters? Many of the outbound forms of marketing still work for B2B sales but blogging (in my mind) has taken a mainstream stance when building trust and thought-leadership in a specific industry. There are some truths to the thought that content can build trust between individuals. Many of us look at B2B marketing as fundamentally different from B2C marketing. Honestly….. (in my humble opinion) there is hardly any difference. We are selling to people. Business to business based companies are still selling to people. The CEO of a distribution company is still a person despite the fact he deals with companies instead of an individual. If you are sitting at the helm in a B2B company remember to start a blog that contains content, daily interactions, client thoughts/opinions and industry news. Your purpose is to create an informational powerhouse that keeps people reading… And involved them in your story… your brand… your legacy. Related articles by Zemanta Social Media: More Than Meets the Eye? (marketingpilgrim.com) John Jantsch on “how to get your customers talking” (thecustomercollective.com) Creative Marketing Associates, Inc. Achieves a Consistent Flow of New Clients with B2B Customer Centric Marketing Program (prweb.com) Why B2B Companies Should Be Using Social Media (thenextweb.com)

Read more from the original source:
B2B Marketing through Social Media and Blogging

I know.. a little egotistical right? That’s why I am splitting it down the middle! My top 10 posts from 2009 and my favorite post from the REAL geniuses of social media. Just trying to showcase the more popular (community driven) posts from 2009. I am going to be taking the rest of the week off in the beautiful San Luis Obispo, CA to be with family. I can’t wait to hook back up in 2010! Have a restful and joyous holiday week! My Favorite Posts of 2009 The Magic of Dynamic Pricing from Seth Godin The Four Spheres of Social Media Strategy from Jason F alls 11 Must-Dos for the Serious Blogger from Jay Baer Sometimes, You Need To Fire a Customer by Lorraine Ball So What’s Facebook Good For? from Chris Baggott User Experience is Not A Check Box from Travis Smith Are You An Elephant or a Butterly? from Douglas Karr The Top 100 Twitter Publishing Tools and Services by Brian Solis Becoming a Social Business from Shannon Paul Death of the Brochure and more Verbal Masturbation by Duncan Alne y My Top Posts of 2009 20 Ways to Drive Leads Through Social Media Customers Are People First. Marketers Are Fundamentally Flawed. 10 Ways to Build Trust with Social Media When Should Business Engage in Social Media Balancing Perception and Reality in Social Media 10 Tips to Integrating Social Media with Marketing Is Out Sourcing Social Media Okay? 5 Things I Have Learned as a Generation Y Business Owner The Three E’s of Social Media: Embrace Educate and Empower Twitter Usage Plan for Success

See the rest here:
My Top 20 Posts of 2009

I know. I know. Everyone writes a post like this..blah blah blah. Looking back at the last year… recanting exciting testimonials of accomplishing goals and just being generally… excited! There is nothing wrong with “looking back at the year” posts which is why I am writing this today. I can be a cynic and a little negative but not during the Holiday! Speaking of accomplishing goals… This post is actually number 500 on this blog. Crazy right? 500 posts about everything from Twitter marketing, Liberty Tax girl I almost hit with my car, music , and grammar in blog writing. First off, thanks to everyone who reads, comments, and joins in the overall human think tank known as the Internet. I absolutely love everything about social media and the thought process behind community engagement! I am going to be taking the next week off to be with my family and to recharge for 2010. I thought I would post the top 5 blog posts from 2009 for the next week. Top 4 Things from 2009 We have had a great year over at Brandswag with Brandon Coon , Amy Rowe , Stephen Coley , and Austin Wechter . Thank you to all of our wonderful clients I wrote Twitter Marketing for Dummies (with the help of Erik Deckers and the wonderful staff at Wiley Publishing Finally broke into the top 150 Ad Age Blogs… but it fluctuates all the time. Was humbled to be able to present at Re/Max Indiana Sales Rally, MBO Conference,  and Hoosier Hospitality Conference We are blessed to live and be able to create content and conversation in this age of technology. Remember that. BRING IT ON 2010! And my one prediction: Google is going to buy Twitter. Related articles by Zemanta Making You A Star. With Social Media. (slideshare.net) What The Phoenix Suns Can Teach Your Brand About Using Twitter (socialmediatoday.com) The Marketing Story of 2009 – TWITTER (slideshare.net) Your Online Strategy for 2010 (slideshare.net)

Read more here:
A Look Back at 2009 and One Prediction

I know. I know. Everyone writes a post like this..blah blah blah. Looking back at the last year… recanting exciting testimonials of accomplishing goals and just being generally… excited! There is nothing wrong with “looking back at the year” posts which is why I am writing this today. I can be a cynic and a little negative but not during the Holiday! Speaking of accomplishing goals… This post is actually number 500 on this blog. Crazy right? 500 posts about everything from Twitter marketing, Liberty Tax girl I almost hit with my car, music , and grammar in blog writing. First off, thanks to everyone who reads, comments, and joins in the overall human think tank known as the Internet. I absolutely love everything about social media and the thought process behind community engagement! I am going to be taking the next week off to be with my family and to recharge for 2010. I thought I would post the top 5 blog posts from 2009 for the next week. Top 4 Things from 2009 We have had a great year over at Brandswag with Brandon Coon , Amy Rowe , Stephen Coley , and Austin Wechter . Thank you to all of our wonderful clients I wrote Twitter Marketing for Dummies (with the help of Erik Deckers and the wonderful staff at Wiley Publishing Finally broke into the top 150 Ad Age Blogs… but it fluctuates all the time. Was humbled to be able to present at Re/Max Indiana Sales Rally, MBO Conference,  and Hoosier Hospitality Conference We are blessed to live and be able to create content and conversation in this age of technology. Remember that. BRING IT ON 2010! And my one prediction: Google is going to buy Twitter. Related articles by Zemanta Making You A Star. With Social Media. (slideshare.net) What The Phoenix Suns Can Teach Your Brand About Using Twitter (socialmediatoday.com) The Marketing Story of 2009 – TWITTER (slideshare.net) Your Online Strategy for 2010 (slideshare.net)

Excerpt from:
A Look Back at 2009 and One Prediction